The 2017 Donruss baseball card set was released in June 2017 as the flagship baseball card release from Donruss for that year. The set featured a return to Donruss’s classic design aesthetic that first became popular in the late 1980s. Sportscard fans were excited for the return of the classic design cues and the availability of rookie cards and current stars in the vintage style packaging they remembered from their childhoods.
The 2017 Donruss baseball card set featured 375 total cards and included base cards as well as a variety of insert sets. All of the major rookie stars of 2017 were featured in the set including Cody Bellinger, Andrew Benintendi, Aaron Judge and more. Veterans stars like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Clayton Kershaw highlighted the set as some of the top chase cards. The design featured a simple white border around each photo with the team logo and set logo prominently across the top. Player stats and a barcode were featured on the bottom portion of each card.
Insert sets within the 2017 Donruss release included Foundations, Inception, Independence Day Parallels, and Velocity. Foundations featured career highlight photos of stars throughout baseball history. Inception featured retro bordered shots of current players. Independence Day parallels featured rainbow foil stars and stripes treatment on Independence Day themed photos. Velocity featured speed-themed action shots of fast players. These popular inserts added more variations and collecting opportunities beyond the base card checklist.
In addition to the base set and inserts, Donruss also produced parallels and autograph/memorabilia variations of the cards to increase theobby potential. Gold, silver, and black parallels offered etched foil treatments in limited numbers. Autograph and memorabilia cards featured on-card and patch autographed by today’s stars. The extremely rare 1/1 Diamond parallels offered the highest end version of select cards redesigned with a diamond-inspired etching. These coveted rare parallels created a chase for collectors at every level.
Collector reaction to the 2017 Donruss baseball set was very positive. After years away, fans were excited to see the classic Donruss design and brand back in the marketplace. The affordability of the base cards combined with the wide array of variations, parallels and inserts created a balanced product at several different collecting levels. Box breaks of the hobby jumbo boxes were popular on YouTube as fans hoped to pull the rookie stars or short printed inserts. Even after being out of the baseball card world for years, Donruss was still a nostalgic brand that resonated with both old and new collectors.
Release timing for the 2017 Donruss set was ideal, arriving shortly after the start of the MLB season. Rookies like Judge, Bellinger and Benintendi were just starting to break out and generate excitement. Having their base rookie cards, autographed cards and more readily available from Donruss captured collector attention and drove interest in the young stars. The product was widely available through the usual hobby store and online retail channels. Both loose pack sales and factory sealed boxes saw heavy distribution.
In the months after the initial release, the 2017 Donruss cards remained popular on the secondary market. Rookie cards of the early season stars like Judge and Bellinger started to climb above their initial print runs. Parallels like the Independence Day refractors held premium value. Autograph cards of rising players held steady demand. While reintroducing the brand, Donruss captured the collector attention needed to sustain secondary market activity throughout the year. With widespread availability and appeal at multiple collecting levels, the 2017 Donruss baseball release is viewed as a successful modern-day return for the classic brand.
The popularity of the 2017 Donruss baseball cards helped lead to additional sports card releases from the brand in subsequent years across several sports properties. By capturing the nostalgia of the vintage design aesthetic and producing a balanced mix of key rookies, stars, variations and parallels, Donruss reestablished itself in the modern trading card landscape after years away. The 2017 baseball release is still viewed as an iconic set in the revival of this fan-favorite brand and created new collectors who continue to chase Donruss cards today.
